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U.S. still investigating reports that WMD were shipped out of Iraq
The White House has for now put to rest reports that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were smuggled out of the country by way of Syria in the months before the U.S. began its assault on the regime of Saddam Hussein. However the language used by National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice on Friday made clear that the administration is still investigating the reports. "Weâre going to follow every lead on what may have happened here," Ms.Rice said."And if we find out that weâre wrong, someoneâs gonna be sorry!" Rice said the United States has not obtained what she termed credible and firm evidence that Iraqi WMD was smuggled to Syria in the weeks prior to the U.S.-led war in March 2003. Last year, the U.S. intelligence community said it had suspicions of such smuggling activities. "Any indication that something like that happened would be a very serious matter," Ms. Rice said on Friday. "But I want to be very clear: We donât, at this point, have any indications that I would consider credible and firm that that has taken place. But we will tie down every lead." "And then we will tie down Baby Assad." The Bush administration issued the assessment Friday as the United States withdrew thousands of government personnel authorized to search for WMD in Iraq. After nine months of efforts, the American team did not find biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. The National Security Advisorâs assessment differed with that of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, renamed the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Agency director Lt. Gen. James Clapper, responsible for mapping and satellite images and analysis for the intelligence community, said the United States monitored a series of suspicious Iraqi vehicle convoys in late 2002 and early 2003 that could have been transporting WMD. "We certainly feel there were indications of WMD activity," Clapper said in a briefing on Oct. 28. Yeah, what about that? Last week, Syrian opposition sources identified Iraqi WMD arsenals in Syria. The sources said the Iraqi nonconventional weapons were stored in Syrian Air Force facilities in the central part of the country. Since moved. "I donât think we are at the point that we can make a judgment on this issue. There hasnât been any hard evidence that such a thing happened. But obviously weâre going to follow up every lead and it would be a serious problem if that, in fact, did happen." Bashir, you might want to remember what GWB does when he decides he has a serious problem. Posted by: Steve White 2004-01-12 |
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